The present invention is directed to a wall structure having frame members for supporting panels forming the wall, to the frame member, which have an integral clip member for holding the panels on the frame member, and to the panels which have coacting edge portions which interlock the panels together.
In a building construction utilizing panels either for a roof construction or a sidewall construction, problems have always occurred in connecting adjacent panels in a manner so that there would be no leaking between the adjacent panels and also so that the connection of the panels would not destroy the aesthetic looks for the wall. One proposed solution to these problems is to provide a panel with edge portions which coact to form a connection or joint between adjacent panels and which would hide the mounting means whether they are fasteners such as nails as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,135,070 and 3,495,363 or utilized clips such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,253,376 and 4,063,396.
It has also been proposed to use connecting edge portions which may include a clip member to anchor the edge of the panel to a frame member, sub-girt or sub-wall such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,209,503; 3,312,028; 3,323,269; 3,388,518; 3,511,011, 3,678,642 and 4,063,396. In one of the solutions proposed in the above-mentioned patents, after the members are arranged with a clip holding the edge or flange of one panel, the edge of the adjacent panel is deformed over the clip and the flange or edge of the first panel to form the connection (see U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,028). It has also been proposed that after arranging a U-shaped flange of one panel to receive an upstanding flange of the adjacent panel, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,269, to use a punch to deform a portion of the U-shaped flange into clinching engagement onto the other flange to form a die clinched or button punched connection between the two flanges. While this die clinch can be used between two flanges, it also can be used between two flanges in which a clip has been inserted. As shown in the above-mentioned Patent No. 3,323,269, the panel may also have one or more channels which are intermediate the side portions and are deformed or clinched onto clips received therein.
Each of these procedures has problems. The assembly of the panels and clips onto the sub-frame, such as the sub-girt, requires utilizing a plurality of tools. For example, the clips must be mounted on the sub-girt and then the panel is assembled onto the clips and subsequently deformed either by the rolling deformer or by the die clinching apparatus such as the button puncher to form an interlocking connection of the panels onto the clips which anchor the panels onto the sub-girt. This has the disadvantage that the worker not only must handle the panels but also operate a plurality of tools which increases the time of erecting the sidewall due to the large number of manipulative assembly steps.